ADDISON, Ala. – Addison hosted the archrival Yellow Jackets of Winston County Friday night and in a very physical game with a packed house, the Bulldogs came away with an impressive 41-20 win to start the season 1-0. Addison Head Coach Mark Hastings accomplished two goals with the victory; he got his first win as the Bulldogs Head Coach and was able to break a four-year losing streak to the Yellow Jackets.
The Bulldogs kicked off and on the third play of the game Addison recovered a Jacket fumble on what appeared to be a miscommunication between the QB and RB. Addison’s Major Snoddy recovered the Jacket miscue at the WCHS twenty-five-yard line.
It only took the Bulldogs four plays to go the 20 yards, as Seth Hammack ran the rock in from two yards out for the first Bulldog touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good and with 8:47 to go in the first quarter, Addison led 6-0.
Winston County’s next possession went fairly well as they managed a couple first downs to get to mid field but then on fourth down, Addison Sr. Casen Hill dropped WCHS do everything QB Will Elliott for a loss to give the Bulldogs offense a first down at the Jacket 41-yard line.
Six plays later on second and goal from the 3, quarterback Elijah Roberts hit a wide-open Michael Lee for the touchdown. Judah Wilkins hit Trennon Burns for the two-point conversion and with fifteen seconds to go in the first quarter, Addison had jumped out 14-0.
Addison Head Coach Hastings pulled a rabbit out of the hat when he had kicker Michael Lee kick a hard line drive on side kick directly at a Jackets front man. The ball bounced off the player’s body and directly back towards the Bulldog players where Ben Bridges recovered the ball. Addison took over at the Jacket 45-yard line and on the second play of the second quarter, Hammack went around right end and scampered untouched 40 yards for his second touchdown of the night. Senior Brodie Willingham kicked the extra point and with 11:12 to go in the half, Addison had a commanding 21-0 lead.
If you thought that the Jackets where just going to quit, you would be sadly mistaken. Winston County started pounding the football using Elliott and Cameron Aderholt who in pads resembles a Mack truck. The drive started at their own f49-yard line and after gaining 24 yards on two Elliott carries, Aderholt gained the final 28 yards on four carries. Aderholt cashed it in from three yards out for the Jacket first touchdown. The two-point try was no good so with 8:14 to go in the half, Addison led 21-6.
Addison took over at their own thirty-yard line and on the second play, Roberts scampered and skittled his way 66 yards for the touchdown. The extra point was no good and Addison led 27-6 with 7:02 to go in the second quarter.
Winston County responded with a must have drive as they went ten plays for 66 yards and a touchdown. Nine of the 10 plays were runs and Elliott took it in from 1 yard out for the score. The two-point was no good and Addison’s lead was cut to 27-12. This is how the half would end.
Addison received the second half kickoff and young Judah Wilkins returned the ball 37 yards to the Jacket forty-two where the offense took over. It only took the Dawgs eight plays to go the 42 yards as Roberts and Hammack split the carries between them. Hammack scored his third touchdown of the night from five yards out at the 8:11 mark of the third quarter. The key play on the drive was a third and 11 from the Jacket 33, when Roberts ran a draw and scooted for 15 yards for the first down. The extra point was no good and Addison had stretched its lead to 33-12.
On Winston County’s next drive, Elliott had one of the best runs you will ever see. Facing a second and nine from his own 32, Elliott dropped back to pass and after escaping a furious rush, zigged and zagged his way down to the Bulldog 27 before Hammack tackled him out of bounds. It seemed that the entire Bulldog defense had an opportunity to tackle him at some point in the run but couldn’t bring him down. The Bulldog defense stepped up and got a huge goal line stand as Elliott was stopped short by Trennon Burns on a fourth down play.
Addison gave the ball right back on a fumble and Jacket Aderholt bulldozed his way in from four yards out for the touchdown. Elliott ran in the two-point conversion, and the Jackets were still hanging around trailing now, 33-20 with 2:27 to go in the third quarter.
After an exchange of possessions, Addison took over at their own 43-yard line and with 10:47 to go in the game, ran eight plays, all running, for the nail in the coffin touchdown. Roberts chipped in his second touchdown as he scored from twenty-two yards out. Roberts is harder to get a hold off and slicker than a greased pig. Roberts hit Silas Frazier for the two-point try and with only five minutes left in the game, Addison had a commanding 41-20 lead and the Dawgs came away with the victory.
“Great to come away with the win. It really helped us to get that turnover to start the game, Hastings said after the game. “Winston County is a big physical team, and I told my guys that if we get in a three yards and a cloud of dust game with them it wouldn’t be good for us. They have some very physical backs, and they are hard to tackle. We had to get to the edge on offense, and we did that tonight. I thought that if we could get to corner, we would have an advantage and we were able to do that. A lot of improvement from this week from last.”
Unofficial stats
Addison had 36 running plays for 312 yards. Addison had nine passing plays for one yard. Addison had 45 total plays for 313 total yards. WCHS had 45 running plays for 240 yards. Winston County had nine passing plays for 23 yards. WCHS had 54 total plays for 263 total yards.
Addison’s Roberts went three completions in six attempts for one yard and a touchdown. WCHS had Elliott go 4 for 9 for 23 yards.
Addison’s Roberts had 22 carries for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Hammack had 10 carries for 99 yards and 3 touchdowns. Wilkins had 3 for 19 yards. WCHS had Aderholt have 13 carries for 89 yards 2 touchdowns. Elliott had 21 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown. Max Moore had 6 carries for 51 yards.
Addison’s Michael Lee had one catch for 3 yards and a touchdown. Conner Lane had one catch for 3 yards. Wilkins had one catch for -5 yards. WCHS Aidan Watts had one catch for 12 yards. Moore had two catches for 8 yards. Colton Alexander had one catch for 3 yards.
On defense Addison had Hammack lead with 6 tackles. Scout Flynn, Casen Hill, Trennon Burns and Major Snoddy had 5 tackles each. Lee had 4 tackles. Brye Dollar, Lane, Willingham and Joey Wilson had 3 each. Wilkins, Roberts and Kyeler Hill had 2 each. Lee had 1.5 sacks while Casen Hill had 1/2 sack. Snoddy and Bridges recovered fumbles.
WCHS was led by Elliott with 7 tackles and recovered a fumble. Watts had 6 tackles. Colton Rumpke had 5 tackles. Aderholt had 3 tackles. Allister Atkins, Kyler Grace and Moore had 2 tackles each.
Addison (1-0) will travel to Trinity next Friday to take on 2A power Decatur Heritage.
